What Is the Bram Stoker Award?

Bram Stoker wrote one of the greatest horror stories of our time and gave birth to one of the most iconic horror characters ever, Dracula.

As a founding author of the genre, the award for excellence in horror literature is named in his honor. The Bram Stoker Award is an annual award given out by the Horror Writers Association (or HWA) to honor the year’s biggest achievements in horror writing. The awards have been held since 1988 (for work from the previous year) when the organization was first founded. The idea behind the awards and the HWA has never been one of competition among the writers but of encouragement and support. The Bram Stoker Award, also known as the Stoker Award or just ‘The Stoker”, is not necessarily given the best work for the previous year but to the work that has done the most achievement for horror literature.

The Horror Writers Association

The Bram Stoker Awards are an important ceremony to the Horror Writers Association. The HWA got its start back in the early 1980’s when horror author Robert R. McCammon expressed interest in an organization specifically for his genre. His reasoning was that every genre had its own organization except for horror. With the assistance of author Jon R. Lansdale and his wife Karen, they formed the then fledgling association known as the Horror and Occult Writers League, or HOWL. The group’s early by-laws stated that the goal of Howl was that it was “a non-profit organization of professional writers of fiction and non-fiction pertaining to or inspired by the traditions, legends, development, and history of horror and occult. Its members are together for their mutual benefit in an earnest effort to further a more widespread publicity, promotion, distribution, readership and appreciation of the literature of horror and occult.”

The first full meeting of the HWA happened at the World Fantasy Convention in Tucson, Arizona on November 3, 1985. The name HOWL was changed to the Horror Writers or America for reasons of a better public image and to be taken seriously by writers and fellow organizations. Later in 1993, the name was altered again to the Horror Writers Association to better include international members. Eventually, a board of trustees was set up to oversee the organization’s operations. Then group president, horror writer Dean R. Koontz, suggested an annual award for superior achievement and excellence in the horror field. The first annual Bram Stoker Award and Banquet was then held in New York in 1988. The HWA since has approximately 500 active members from around the globe and consists of both professional and amateur writers in the horror field.

Rules and Requirements for the Bram Stoker Award

The Bram Stoker Award, Also known as The Stoker Award or just ‘The Stokers’, is non-juried. To be eligible for the award, the nominated work must first have been published in English. Any HWA member can nominate a work for consideration. All active members then vote and put selected works onto a preliminary ballot. After that there are two rounds of voting by Active members determine the finalists and then finally the winners. The Bram Stoker winners are announced and presented their awards at the annual HWA conference and banquet held every June.

The Bram Stoker Awards are currently divided into nine separate categories: Novel, First Novel, Long Fiction, Short Fiction, Fiction Collection, Anthology, Non-Fiction, Poetry, and Lifetime Achievement. The award itself is a small replica of a haunted house. It was designed by Harlan Ellison and sculpted by Steven Kirk. Inside the house is a brass plague which is revealed when you open the house’s front door. The name of the author and their winning work is engraved inside.

Bram Stoker Award Winners

Here are the winners of the Bram Stoker Awards since the first annual ceremony in 1987:

1987 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel: Misery by Stephen King and Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon (tie)

First Novel:The Manse by Lisa Cantrell

Novelette: “The Pear-Shaped Man” by George R.R. Martin and “The Boy Who Came Back From the Dead” by Alan Rodgers (tie)

Short Story: “The Deep End” by Robert R. McCammon

Collection:The Essential Ellison by Harlan Ellison

Non-Fiction:Mary Shelley by Muriel Spark

Life Achievement: Fritz Leiber, Frank Belknap Long, Clifford D. Simak

1988 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel:The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

First Novel:The Suiting by Kelley Wilde

Novelette: “Orange is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity” by David Morrell

Short Story: “Night They Missed the Horror Show” by Joe R. Lansdale

Collection: Charles Beaumont: Selected Stories by Charles Beaumont

Life Achievement: Ray Bradbury, Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes

1989 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel:Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons

First Novel:Sunglasses After Dark by Nancy A. Collins

Novelette: “On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert With Dead Folks” by Joe R. Lansdale